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Significant damage was done to America’s fiscal outlook over the past year. New legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President has widened the gap between revenues and spending, and has taken our fiscal condition from bad to worse. Unpaid-for tax cuts and new spending legislation means we will return to trillion-dollar deficits as early as next year. Interest on the national debt cost taxpayers $325 billion in 2018 and is projected to total nearly $7 trillion over the next decade — squeezing out national priorities, investments in our economy, and programs that are relied upon by millions of Americans.

The following nine charts tell the fiscal story of 2018, illustrating the damage done and the urgent need to correct course to secure economic opportunities and quality of life for every American in the future.

1. We’re back to trillion-dollar deficits.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the deficit for this fiscal year will reach $973 billion, and deficits are projected to continue climbing in the years ahead. Other than during the Great Recession and its aftermath, the U.S. government has never witnessed deficits over $1 trillion.

2. It’s unusual for debt to increase faster than the economy during a period of strong growth.

The dust has barely settled on the midterm elections, but there are a number of key fiscal issues not only facing the current Congress in coming weeks, but also awaiting the new Congress, which will convene in early 2019.